As is appropriate, the Indiana State Police made the arrest in a case making national news today, as reported in today’s Indianapolis Star:
A man wanted in the slaying of a Pennsylvania couple and the possible abduction of their 14-year-old daughter fled from Indiana state troopers at speeds in excess of 90 mph, running other cars off a two-lane highway before he crashed and was captured today, police said.
It’s Race Day for the Indianapolis 500 – the traditional Sunday before Memorial Day date.
I’m cheering for these guys:
Bush: 62%
Yeah baby!
The Boston Globe is reporting that Evan Bayh has won re-election in his Senate seat in Indiana:
Democrat Evan Bayh, a leading voice in moderate “New Democrat” circles, swept to a second term in the Senate for Indiana.
The Indianapolis Star reports that Bayh won re-election 62% to 36% with 24% of the precincts reporting.
YEAH!
I was unaware, until today, that the Navy had named a Destroyer for General David Shoup, the 22nd Commandant of the Marine Corps, and a man from my hometown.
General Shoup won the Congressional Medal of Honor at Tarawa during World War II, where his combat report read:
Casualties many; Percentage of dead not known; Combat efficiency; we are winning.
General Shoup died in 1983 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetary.
The USS Shoup (DDG 86) is based in Everett, Washington.
Butler University Police Officer James L. Davis, Jr. was laid to rest yesterday in Indianapolis, reports the Indianapolis Star:
Family, friends and the law enforcement community gathered Thursday to mourn the death of Butler University Police Officer James L. Davis Jr. by celebrating his life — a life grounded in family, faith and a commitment to helping others.
The emotion-packed “homegoing” at Mount Carmel Baptist Church marked the second time in five weeks that Indianapolis said goodbye to a police officer killed in the line of duty.
Davis — “JJ” to family and friends — was fatally shot Sept. 24 in a confrontation on the Butler campus involving a man with a history of mental illness.
He was buried in the Heroes of Public Safety section at Crown Hill Cemetery next to the fresh grave of Indianapolis Police Department Officer Timothy “Jake” Laird, 31, who was killed in the line of duty Aug. 18.
Davis, 31, was remembered at the two-hour funeral service as a dedicated family man who believed in education, the goodness of others and the glory of God.
“Officer Davis, we are going to miss you,” Mount Carmel Pastor Theron D. Williams I said during a 35-minute eulogy. “Your life, like a swelling river, has overflown its banks and rushed over us.”
The evil that led to the two police shootings, Williams said, should not make officers question their chosen profession or retreat from their duties. Instead, he challenged the men and women in uniform to press on in honor of Davis.
“Can God count on you to serve and to protect?” he asked.
Minutes later, the city’s public safety director, Robert Turner, answered the question.
“Reverend Williams — I do want to say yes,” said Turner. “Both you and God can continue to count on us to keep doing our job.”
Indianapolis has suffered its second line in the duty death of a police officer with the murder this morning of Butler University Police Officer James Davis, reports the Indianapolis Star:
A Butler University Police Department officer was shot and killed this morning in the parking lot at Hinkle Fieldhouse, and his suspected assailant was shot less than three hours later a short distance away.
The officer, who university officials identified as James Davis, 31, was pronounced dead at 11:08 a.m. from a single gunshot wound to the head. He had been with the Butler police since January, 2003.
Police set up a perimeter from 46th Street to 49th Street between Sunset Lane and Boulevard Place as they searched for the suspect, who fled the scene of the 10:30 a.m. shooting on foot.
At 12:45 p.m., police engaged the suspect in the 4400 block of North Illinois Street. The suspect was shot and has been transported to Wishard Memorial Hospital.
Police late this afternoon identified the suspect as Kahdir Al Khattab, 26. He was in critical condition.
Al Khattab had been wanted on an arrest warrant for battery.
I’ll point out that Officer Davis was a year ahead of me at Indiana University. While I do not recall his name – his face is familiar to me. Perhaps I knew him – perhaps we took a class together – perhaps not. But I feel his loss nonetheless.
RIP Officer James Davis….